


Mir Da'len Somniar

by kaoruyogi



Series: Songs of the Elvhen Torch Companion Works [2]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lullabies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-09-05
Packaged: 2018-08-13 04:04:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7961749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaoruyogi/pseuds/kaoruyogi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a little one-off of Halise and Cullen from my fic, “The Lion by Torchlight,” for CullavellanHeaven‘s Cullavellan Week 2016 “Family” (and sort of the "Sharing Customs") prompt. Halise’s name is pronounced “Hah-Lee-Say.”</p><p>Cullen hears a song from Halise's past, and learns both sad and happy news.</p><p>There are a couple of good versions of the song used in this little story. Check out <a href="https://youtu.be/Zl3CmzQY1So">this one</a> and <a href="https://irenezhong.bandcamp.com/track/mir-dalen-somniar">this one</a> for different experiences. Full credit to those artists for their beautiful work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mir Da'len Somniar

The soft sound of singing drifted into Cullen’s ears as he opened the door to Halise’s quarters. They had come back from looking for Samson at the Shrine of Dumat only a few days before, and he’d finally completed the report she asked him to write detailing his experience when his face was splattered with red lyrium laced blood. It had been painful and frightening, to say the very least, and she was understanding when he requested extra time to reconsider the incident with a clearer mind.

The melody she sang was soft and enchanting. The words became clearer as he walked up the stairs, though they were in Elvhen, and he still could not understand them.

 

_Elgara vallas, da'len_

_Melava somniar_

_Mala taren aravas_

_Ara ma'desen melar_

 

He saw her when he reached the top of the stairs. She sat on her bed, absently running her pale fingers over the ends of her long curls. The bulk of her fiery hair sat over her shoulder, though a few loose tendrils hung across her back and down to her waist. Her viridescent eyes stared out of her large window at the snow covered mountains on the opposite side of the valley as she sang. He stood silently, with no desire to disrupt her thoughts.

 

_Iras ma ghilas, da'len_

_Ara ma ne'dan ashir_

_Dirthara lothlenan'as_

_Bal emma mala dir_

 

Cullen shifted on his feet, apparently making some sort of noise when he did. Halise turned her head only slightly, casting her eyes up to him with the faintest tinge of sorrow. Continuing her song, she turned her gaze back to the window, gently patting a spot on the bed next to her. He took the gesture to mean that she wanted him to join her there, and he did, moving to the spot and sitting as lightly as he could so as not to disturb her.

 

_Tel'enfenim, da'len_

_Irassal ma ghilas_

_Ma garas mir renan_

_Ara ma'athlan vhenas_

_Ara ma'athlan vhenas_

 

Silence hung in the air after she finished singing. Halise ran her fingers over her eyebrow before she spoke, voice quieter than he was accustomed to, still looking outside. “Mamae used to sing that song to help me and Eirlan go to sleep,” she murmured. “I remember thinking I was too old for lullabies and rolling over in a huff one night. My mother’s voice changed—got sadder—when I turned away, and I knew immediately that it was a horrible thing for me to have done. Eirlan was just four years old, and she popped up out of her little bed, wandered over to me, and tugged on the back of my hair until I rolled back over. Then she crawled into bed with me and made me listen to the lullaby.”

Cullen sat silently, enrapt and thankful to her for sharing one more sacred memory with him. A sad little smile passed over her lips as she continued. “I never turned from my mother again…until after Eirlan died. I ran away from everything to be at the Conclave. Left my clan behind, my culture, my parents…” Her voice trailed off before she cleared her throat. “I was so angry. It’s not like I didn’t say goodbye, but I turned my back on everything.”

Her left hand dropped from her hair to her side, out of his view. He could hear the sound of parchment before she lifted it, crossing her arm over her chest to hand it to him. He hadn’t had the chance to look at it before she told him what it said. “Mamae died last week,” she whispered, tears edging their way into the timbre of her voice. A single thick tear fell from her eye.

Cullen wasn’t sure whether Halise would want him to touch her, but he chanced it anyway, unable to let her languish in her sorrow alone. He wrapped an arm around her waist, sliding himself closer to her. He was grateful when he felt her drop her head against his collarbone, the feeling of her breath slow and soft across his chest.

“I’m so sorry, Halise,” he said softly, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“I was worried I’d forgotten the song,” she murmured. “I want to be able to sing it to my children someday.”

They hadn’t discussed children before that moment. Cullen struggled for an instant with not having had such an important conversation before something like this. But realizing that what she said meant that she also wanted children, it dawned on him that they no longer needed to have that talk. He felt a bit guilty in his relief, allowing himself to feel it anyway. If they survived, they might have children someday.

He simply replied, “I know they’ll love it.”

“They will.” Halise sighed and rested her hand on his knee. “If they’re ours, they will.”

*****

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading.
> 
> As always, comments/con-crit are welcome.
> 
> Come on over to my [tumblr](kaoruyogi.tumblr.com) and talk it up with me if you'd like!


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